Pyrotechnic



Aug. 28, 1934. K, KOHN 1,971,529

PYROTECHNIC Original Filed July 5, 1928 amniotsuch compositions are used, it becomes possible Patented Aug. 28, 1934 TE T OFFICE; i i;

- 1,971,529 rrno'rizonmo Koby Kohn, New York, N. Y., assignor to Chat ham Specialty Corporation, New York, corporation of New York N. Y., a

Application July 5, 1928, Serial No. 290,488 Renewed March 21, 1933 7 Claims. (Cl. 862l3) This invention relates to pyrotechnics and more particularly to a method of and means for filling the casings or containers of fireworks.

It is a general object of the present'invention to provide a novel and improved method of and means for introducing an explosive into the casings of fireworks.

More particularly it is an object of the invention to provide a method of and means for .en-

. abling-certain ingredients of the explosive composition of a firework to be introduced separately and simultaneously therein, at least a partial mixing of the ingredients taking place as a result of the filling operation.

Other and further features and objects of the invention will be more apparent to those skilled in the art upon a consideration of the accom panying drawing and following specification, wherein are disclosed two exemplary embodi- 0 meritsv of the invention, with the understanding,

however, that such changes may be made therein as fall within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In said' drawing: I Figure l is'a vertical section through the casing of a firework and the apparatus forloading the same; and

. Figure 2 is a similar view, showing a modification of the loading apparatus The loading of fireworks constitutes one of the most hazardous steps in their manufacture, and anumber'of efforts have been made to reduce this hazard as much as possible, but they have often resulted in slowing up the process so that they are not economically feasible. The pyrotechnic composition used in a great many fireworks is a mere mechanical mixture of a number of ingredients, some of which may be of themselves mechanical or chemical mixtures. Where and sealed firework.

Heretofore it has been common practice to insert pyrotechnic material in its completely mixed form. Since large quantities of this material are often used in a short period of time, their storage and even their mixing constitutes a serious hazard; By means of the present invention, 'the two basic ingredients of all pyrotechnic" compo sitions, i. e. a readily oxidizable substance and an oxygen bearing substance, are separated until the instant they are introduced into the firework.

Thus at no time is there a greater quantity of explosive existing in the immediate vicinity of the loading operation than that contained in a single firework. 1 For convenience of illustration, the invention is described in connection with the loading ofa; toy torpedo, such as shown in my Patent'Noi- 1,670,814, granted May 22, 1928, for Toy torpedo. It is customary to load toy torpedoes with an explosive compound comprising a mechanical mixture of definite proportions of sulphur, which is the readily oxidizable substancef'potassium chlorate, the oxygen carrying substance; and some abrasive, such as antimony sulphide. While this is the customary charge introduced into torpe does, it is not intended to limit the invention ex'- cept to the separation of the oxygen bearing constituent and the readily oxidizable constituent of the composition. Referring to the drawing, and particularly to Fig. 1, there is disclosed at 10 the casing of a toy torpedo which may be formed of any suitable material. 'In the above mentioned patent the casing is molded, and it may be convenientlyfilled while still in position in the moldll, as shown, which forms 'a convenient-means for holding the casing in position. In that patent the. coarse abrasive material for igniting the explosive compound is secured to the walls of the chamber 12in the casing 10, as shown at 13, although this is not neces sary. The explosive composition may be con-e veniently divided into its respective ingredients;- but it is found sufficient to divide the ingredients into two groups, those in each group being more or less inerttoward each other in the absence of those in the other group. Thus, inloading ator-z. pedo, the sulphur and antimony sulphide may be placed in a container 14 and the potassium chlorate in the container 15. Each of these containers is provided with a conduit, 16 and 17 respectively. These conduits are of relatively small a converging arrangement of the conduits insures that the two streams of ingredients will converge and thus at least partially mix with each other. The purpose of this is to prevent any change in 5 the desired proportions of the ingredients. When torpedoes in particular are loaded by a process in which the ingredients are successively introduced, it is found that a certain portion of the first introduced ingredient is more or less lost in the pores and on the surface of the material of the casing and the coarse abrasive, and thus becomes inert. Furthermore, this reduces the total quantity of that ingredient and changes the proportions of the mixture. Since the total amount of explosive allowed by the Bureau of Explosives in any single torpedo is five grains, it can be seen that a smaller quantity of either one of the ingredients will materially change the ratio of the constituents of the compound.

In Fig. 2, the arrangement is much the same as in Fig. 1, except that the conduits l6 and 17, which correspond to the conduits 16 and 17 in Fig. 1, and are supplied and regulated in a similar manner, do not directly enter the mouth of the compartment 12' of the casing 10', but are spaced some distance above this mouth and preferably have a slightly lessincluded angle between them. They are arranged in a funnel like mixing chamber 18, whose mouth 19 enters a short distance into the compartment 12'. The materials issuing from the conduits 16' and 1'? converge and intermingle assisted by the contacting with the walls of the funnel 18, the lower end of which forms a mixing chamber to more intimately mix the constituents. With this arrangement it may be found that additional mixing after the cap has been placed on the torpedo will be unnecessary.

It will be seen that the above method and apparatus allows for the ready filling of explosive or pyrotechnic materialinto any form of fireworks casing where the material is not intended to be tightly packed. By introducing the ingredients simultaneously, a mixing is obtained during their introduction, and by having the ends of the tubes or the funnel within the container, there is but little chance of losing any of the finely powdered material, which is in every instance, of course, dry. Considerable time is saved by introducing the material simultaneously rather than successively, for the number of operations is reduced. Furthermore, by using the apparatus shown, a plurality of casings or containers may be loaded at one time. For instance, a number of casings 10 may be formed ina single mold, and as soon as they have been formed may be moved beneath a plurality of properly spaced filling apparatus as shown, and the whole group of casings filled at a single operation, thus materially reducing the time and expense of making small items. Furthermore, the operation can be made entirely automatic, doing away with costly hand labor and overcoming the inequalities resulting from crude hand methods of loading. It will be appreciated that the most important feature of the invention is of course the added safety, since it is not required that any quantity of mixed explosive be present at any time during the filling operation.

In the appended claims the word ingredien is intended to cover any single component or any suitable mixture of components which are inert in respect to each other in the absence of other components.

'Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of loading a firework consisting in mixing certain ingredients of the pyrotechnic composition which will not explosively react with each other in the absence of another ingredient and introducing said mixture and said other ingredient separately and simultaneously directly into the firework, the mixture and other ingredient being non-reacting prior to explosion.

2. The method of loading a firework consisting in mixing certain'ingredients of the pyrotechnic composition and introducing said mix- 10) ture and another ingredient which will not react therewith prior to explosion separately and simultaneously directly into the firework.

3. The method of loading a firework consisting in mixing certain dry ingredients of the pyrotechnic composition and introducing said mixture and another ingredient which will not react therewith prior to explosion in measured quantities separately and simultaneously direct- 1y into the firework.

4. The method of loading a firework consisting no ;5. The method of loading a firework con- T sisting in forming separate streams of two dry ingredients, of a pyrotechnic composition causing said streams to impinge and allowing the united stream to enter the firework casing.

6. The method of loading a firework consisting in forming separate streams of two dry ingredients of a pyrotechnic composition which do not react prior to explosion, merging said streams to at least partially mix said ingredients and then introducing "the single stream into the firework casing.

7. The method of loading a firework comprising the steps of simultaneously introducing two separate dry ingredients of a pyrotechnic compositioninto' a chamber to thereby cause partial mixing of the ingredients, converging the mingled mass to produce further mixing and delivering the same directly by gravity into the firework. 

